Mumbai Indians (MI) will face Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the final league match of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) on Sunday, May 21, at the iconic Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai. SRH are coming off an eight-wicket loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their previous match, which was contested on May 18, in Hyderabad. With eight points, the 2016 champions are now at the bottom of the IPL 2023 points table.
The Aiden Markram-led side does not have many worries in the batting and bowling departments at the moment. Notably, they have already been eliminated from playoff contention, having lost nine of their 13 games. They will, however, seek to win to wrap up the season on a high. Will SRH make any changes to their squad for the next game? Let’s dissect!
Here’s Sunrisers Hyderabad’s predicted XI against Mumbai Indians
Openers: Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi
Abhishek Sharma (Photo Source: IPL/Twitter)
Abhishek Sharma has been key for SRH at the top order in most of their matches. He amassed 226 runs in 11 innings, including two half-centuries, at an average of 20.54 and a strike rate of 143.94. Sharma did not score as many runs in SRH’s previous match, but he is expected to play in SRH’s top order in the following encounter as well.
In their last encounter, SRH placed middle-order batter Rahul Tripathi into the top order when their plan with Anmolpreet Singh flopped. Tripathi is SRH’s second-highest run-scorer, with 273 runs from 13 games, including a fifty. His highest score this season was an unbeaten 74 off 48 deliveries against the Punjab Kings (PBKS), which SRH won by eight wickets.
Middle Order: Aiden Markram (c), Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Harry Brook, Glenn Phillips
Heinrich Klaasen 1. (Photo Source: IPL/ BCCI)
Aiden Markram failed to score in most of SRH’s matches this season. The Proteas batter is the third-highest run-scorer with 235 runs from 12 matches, including one half-century, and was dismissed for a duck once. His highest score this season was a 50 off 26 against the two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), in which SRH won by 23 runs.
In the middle order, Heinrich Klaasen has been crucial for Hyderabad. He is SRH’s highest run-scorer this season, with 430 runs from 11 innings, including two fifties and a century. The wicketkeeper-batter smashed his maiden IPL century in his team’s previous match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), scoring 104 off just 51 deliveries.
Harry Brook did not score as many runs after notching up a memorable maiden IPL ton in the rest of the season. Consequently, he was benched in most of SRH’s matches. The England batter amassed just 190 runs in ten games, with an average of 23.75 and a strike rate of 124.18. Notably, Brook scored his first IPL century against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), with SRH winning the match by 23 runs.
Keeper-batter Glenn Phillips has featured in just four games for SRH this season. In SRH’s match against RR, he scored a winning seven-ball 25 runs and was adjudged Player of the Match. He would be hoping for some heroics in the forthcoming game after a dismal performance in the previous game.
All-rounders: Abdul Samad
Abdul Samad. (Photo Source: BCCI/IPL)
Abdul Samad has performed well in the lower order for SRH so far this season. He has scored 169 runs from nine games. In the previous clash, he was not given the opportunity to bat. However, the 21-year-old is expected to come out good in the final league match of SRH.
Bowlers: T Natarajan, Mayank Markande, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Fazalhaq Farooqi
T Natarajan. (Photo Source: Twitter)
T Natarajan contributes significantly to the SRH bowling unit so far this season. However, the pacer looked out of colour and his performance hasn’t been up to par compared to previous seasons. Natarajan has only taken 10 wickets in 12 games with an economy of 9.11.
At one point, Mayank Markande was SRH’s most effective bowler, but he failed to maintain his consistency in bowling. In ten games, the leg spinner has grabbed 12 wickets at an economy of 7.89. Because of his inconsistent play, the 25-year-old was left out of the starting XI for SRH’s previous match.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar is one of the most experienced bowlers in the SRH team. The veteran Indian bowler has come up as the most successful bowler for SRH as he is the highest wicket-taker for the Aiden Markram-led side. The 33-year-old has picked up 15 wickets from 13 matches at an economy of 8.48.
Fazalhaq Farooqi has only played in four of SRH’s games but already has four wickets at an 8.77 economy rate. The Afghan cricketer also played superbly but dropped out of the starting eleven in the previous game. However, skipper Aiden Markram will probably include him in the starting lineup in the final league clash.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) Probable Playing 11:
Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram (c), Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Harry Brook, Glenn Phillips, Abdul Samad, T Natarajan, Mayank Markande, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) Probable Impact Players:
Vivrant Sharma, Kartik Tyagi, Mayank Dagar